Variable scoring guessing game apparatus



965 N. w. OROURKE 3,

VARIABLE SCORING GUESSING GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 21, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 lIlIl E 252mm 28 @WWWW W Q Wu NEIL w r uRKE may W 24 II 22%" l Nov. 2, 1965 N. w. OROURKE 3,215,430

VARIABLE SCORING GUESSING GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 21, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ILEEE Fig 8 INVENTOR.

' NEIL W. OROURKE Nov. 2, 1965 N. w. OROURKE 3,215,430

VARIABLE SCORING GUESSING GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 21, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 2 I92 10 l I I0 T .Hl T .IHIW .mu

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INVENTOR.

NEIL W. OROURKE Nov. 2, 1965 N. w. OROURKE VARIABLE SCORING GUESSING GAME AP Filed Jan. 21, 1965 PARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I56 INVENTOR.

NEIL W. O'ROURKE Fig. I6

United States Patent 3,215,430 VARIABLE SCORING GUESSING GAME APPARATUS Neil W. ORourke, 6485 La Jolla Scenic Drive, La Jolla, Calif. Filed Jan. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 252,632 4 Claims. (til. 2731) The present invention relates to a game involving the use of game strategy.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a game in which players have playing pieces of different characters, ordinarily colored balls, two players making an initial choice of one playing piece each and comparing the two on a match-mismatch basis with the winner thereby elected to play his playing piece into a marked receiving opening leading to a receptacle with a marked score value.

Another object of this invention is to provide a game wherein an apertured plate-like discriminator in full view on top of the game casing determines the initial placement of the playing piece and thus controls the scores resulting from particular plays, this discriminator being changeable in predetermined relationships to vary the playing strategy required for a winning score.

Another object of this invention is to provide for game apparatus of this nature an improved means for determining the initial placement of the playing pieces, this improvement being, in part, the provision of a plate-like discriminator rather than a ball translating or directing means, this discriminator displaying legends where necessary but merely accepting the balls at specified locations rather than directing the balls, and improving the game while making the game apparatus more economical to produce.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of the game apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of an alternative structure;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on line '77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of a simplified form of the structure of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a top plan view of another alternative structure;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken on line 10-10 of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken on line 1111 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a top plan view of a further alternative structure;

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view taken on line 1313 of FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is a perspective view of an alternative form in which the instruction means is a shiftable card;

FIGURE 15 is a plan view of a modified form adapted for use with more than two strategies; and

FIGURE 16 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 1616 of FIG. 15.

Structure Referring now to FIGURES 1-4 of the drawings, the game apparatus comprises a casing 18, illustrated as a generally rectangular shallow box having at one end a storage bin 12 and receptacles l4 and 16 extending along opposite sides to the other end. The bin and receptacles are formed by a longitudinal central divider or housing 18 having atop panel 20 and downwardly turned side walls 22 which, with the sides 24 of casing 10 enclose the receptacles 14 and 16. One end of housing 18 has a downwardly turned end wall 26 extending the full width of casing 10, the lower edge of said end wall having a base flap 28 which rests on the bottom panel 30 of said casing and extends to the end thereof, as in FIGURE 3, so holding the housing in place and forming the storage bin 12. The casing 10 has leg means to tilt the casing during play and to accomplish this the side walls 22 may have downwardly extending legs 32 which project through slots 34 in bottom panel 30, said legs having inclined lower edges 36 so that the casing 10 is suppoited on the legs at an inclination to the supporting surface, the ends of receptacles 14 and 16 remote from storage bin 12 being lowest, as in FIGURE 3. At the shorter ends of legs 32 adjacent the lower edges of side walls 22 are notches 38 which engage with the bottom panel 349 at the ends of slots 34, the housing being attached with a sliding action to seat these notches. The entire structure thus far is adaptable for manufacture from two pieces of folded cardboard or similar material.

Mounted on top of the casing It) and in full view of the players is a transversely disposed, plate-like discriminator 40 having therein a pair of spaced cut out windows 42 and 44 superimposed over the top panel 20. Near one end of window 42 is a receiving opening 46 disposed above receptacle 14, and at the opposite end of window 44 is a receiving opening 48 disposed above receptacle 16. On the top panel 20 are instruction labels 5t spaced so that two are visible through windows 42 and 44. Four such instruction means in the form of labels 5% are indicated, so that the discriminator 40 has two alternative positions wherein two labels are visible simultaneously. The instruction labels may be printed directly or applied in any other suitable manner to top panel 20 and other arrangements may be used, that illustrated being an example. To ensure proper alignment of the windows 42 and 44 with instruction labels 5t), and to permit shifting of the dis criminator, the casing and discriminator have interacting detent means, which may take the form of upwardly projecting ears 52 on the upper edges of the sides 24, these ears selectively seating into open sockets 54 in the discriminator 40, the sockets and ears being spaced to retain the translating element in either of its alternative positions.

The discriminator 40 may be a relatively thin plate-like element and the openings 46 and 48 may be simply holes therethrough and do not require inclined walls since the function is merely discrimination between different receptacles therebelow rather than directional orientation of playing pieces as found in prior art devices of this general nature. Openings 46 and 48 selectively lead to receptacles 14 and 16 respectively.

Games procedure The game, as properly played, is based primarily on the mathematical theories of game strategy. Initially, two players are each provided with a number of playing pieces or balls 58 of two colors, such as black and white for contrast. One player is nominated matcher and the other mismatcher. Each player secretly selects one ball which are then compared, and the matcher, to win, must match the other, that is, hold a ball of the same color as his opponent. Each player requires one playing unit as illustrated in FIGURES L4 and a quantity of balls can be carried in the storage bin 12. If the colors match, the matcher drops his ball into a particular one of the receiving openings 46 and 4-8 in his playing unit. The mismatcher retains his ball, he having lost the play. If the colors do not match, the mismatcher drops his ball into a particular one of the receiving openings in his playing unit. The matcher retains his ball, he has lost the play. The instruction labels 50' designate which opening is to be used for each color of ball which has been matched or mismatched. The top panel 20 also carries score indicators 56 which denote the individual score of a particular color of ball in either receptacle 14 or 16.

As each ball is dropped through a receiving opening it rolls down the inclined bottom panel 30 to the end of the particular receptacle, as indicated by the directional arrows and the ball 58 in FIGURE 2. Scores can be totalled continuously or at any time since the balls are visible and remain in the receptacles until the game is over, usually by one player reaching a specific number of points, and scores can be obtained by multiplying the number of white and/or black balls in each receptacle by the indicated point value for the appropriate ball in that receptacle.

The specific instructions contained in labels 50 are subject to considerable variation in accordance with the mathematics of game strategy, in order to provide particular scoring results. Game strategy as such is an extension subject and is not within the scope of the present disclosure. As played in its skillful form, the game involves the prediction, by the players, of possible scores based on the chances of matching or mismatching playing pieces. Strategy can be changed after each game or after several games merely by shifting the discriminator 40 to change the scoring matrix.

Alternative structures The apparatus illustrated in FIGURES -7 is similar in configuration to that described above, but is molded or otherwise formed from solid material. Two similar units are illustrated in back-to-back relation for use by opposing players, but may be separated during actual play if desired. In this structure the casing 60 takes the form of a block having at one end a recessed storage bin 62 and a pair of spaced parallel receptacles 64 and 66 which are longitudinally extending channels in the inclined top surface 68. Mounted on top of casing 60 is a discriminator 70, comprising a saddle-like member with side flanges 72 which ride on the sides 74 of said casing. The discriminator 70 has a pair of transverse windows 76 and 78 which expose instruction labels 80 on the top surface 68, and adjacent said windows are receiving openings 82 and 84 disposed over the receptacles 64 and 66, respectively. It will be evident that the arrangement is very similar to that previously described. Alternative instruction labels 80 are provided on top surface 68, the discriminator '70 having small lugs 86 which seat into alignment sockets 88 in the sides 74 to ensure that the windows 76 and 78 register properly with the instruction labels.

A simplified form of the structure is illustrated in FIG- URE 8, in which the two units are incorporated into a single casing 90. The storage bins are omitted, but all other details are as described for FIGURES 5-7 and are similarly numbered.

Another form of the apparatus illustrated in FIG- URES 9-11 has a casing 100 with four receptacles 102 and a central housing 104, and on top of the housing is a rotatable discriminator 106 having four receiving openings 108. Inside the housing are upper ramps 110 inclined downwardly and outwardly and also inclined to one side of the housing, while spaced below these are similar, lower ramps .112 inclined to the other side. At the lower outer corner of each ramp portion is an outlet 114 in the housing 104, leading to one of the receptacles 102. In the top panel 116 of housing 104 are four groups of transfer openings 118, the receiving openings 108 being selectively registrable with one transfer opening of each group. The discriminator 106 is indexed by a detent 120 seating in suitably spaced sockets 122 in top panel 116. Some of the transfer openings 118 open only through the top panel 116 to deposit playing pieces on the upper ramps 110, while others have extension tubes 124 passing through said upper ramps to deposit playing pieces on thelower ramps 112. Thus the playing pieces can be directed automatically to any one of the receptacles according to which openings are used. Suitable instruction labels and score indicators may be applied to the translating element 106 to indicate which receiving opening is to be used for a particular play.

A further structure illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 also has a simple casing 126 with receptacles 128 and a central housing 130. Above top panel 132 is mounted a rotatable discriminator 134 having therein four windows 136 spaced equally about the center of rotation. On the top panel 132 are instruction labels 140 which indicate the receptacles in which the playing pieces must be deposited in specific plays. In this instance the playing pieces are inserted manually rather than being transferred through special openings. The scoring matrix can be varied by rotating the discriminator 134 to expose different combinations of instructions.

In each configuration of the apparatus the playing pieces are directed, by specific instructions, to a particular receptacle, dependent on the matching or mismatching of playing pieces by two players. The scoring matrix and instructions can be changed at any time by moving a discriminator incorporated into the apparatus.

The instruction means may be incorporated in an element shifta'ble relative to the discriminator as illustrated in FIG. 14; this alternative structure having the instruction means in the form of a card 142 slidably mounted on top of the casing between guide lugs 144 upstanding from side Walls 22. In this version, a discriminator of saddle shape is held by downwardly bent terminals 148 in slit pockets 150 on the sides of the casing 10.

A still further modification is illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16, the discriminator 156 being shiftable as previously describe-d but having three sets of apertures 158, and windows 160 corresponding with three channel receptacles 162 in the casing.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawings are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting. Each of the embodiments of the invention is adaptable for use by more than two players.

A representative system of scoring is shown applied to the form of the invention shown in FIGURE 8. Numerals 2, 4, 6 and 8, representing score values, are located alongside lower right hand receptacle 64. These would be duplicated along each receptacle. As the balls stack up in the receptacle the total score may be read adjacent the top playing piece in any given stack.

In the several modifications of the invention disclosed receiving openings selectively lead to the receptacles in the sense that each opening leads to a given receptacle.

I claim;

1. Game apparatus comprising:

a plurality of playing pieces of difierent characters;

a casing having a plurality of receptacles of marked score value to receive the playing pieces;

said casing having on top thereof aplate-like discriminator having receiving openings;

said discriminator and said casing providing routing means communicating each receiving opening to only a corresponding receptacle wherein regardless of the relationship of the discriminator to the casing, the communication between the receiving opening and its corresponding receptacle remains the same;

instruction means providing difierent instructions on receptacles have a width commensurate with that of said an element separate from said discriminator; playing pieces so that they are arranged in a definite orsaid discriminator having a plurality of open windows der and a given number of pieces will result in a given to expose certain of said instructions; position of the uppermost piece;

and said discriminator and instruction element being 5 said receptacles having alongside a scale indicating the relatively shiftable one to the other to expose diftotal score accorded to a given collection of said ferent instructions and thereby change the score pieces adjacent the uppermost piece of said collection. value of the playing piece inserted in said receiving openings Without changing the routing means leading from said receiving openings to said receptacles. 10

2. Game apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS marl ed score value assigns a difierent score value for 53 x32 5 21 3 pleces of dlfferent character In the m p- 3,070,371 12/62 Heme 273 1 X 3. Game apparatus according to claim 1 wherein some 15 FOREIGN PATENTS of said windows are respectively adjacent each of said 5 3 3 Great Britain receiving openings.

4. Game apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. GAME APPARATUS COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF PLAYING PIECES OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERS; A CASING HAVING A PLURALITY OF RECEPTACLES OF MARKED SCORE VALUE TO RECEIVE THE PLAYING PIECES; SAID CASING HAVING ON TOP THEREOF A PLATE-LIKE DISCRIMINATOR HAVING RECEIVING OPENINGS; SAID DISCEIMINATOR AND SAID CASING PROVIDING ROUTING MEANS COMMUNICATING EACH RECEIVING OPENING TO ONLY A CORRESPONDING RECEPTACLE WHEREIN REGARDLESS OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE DISCRIMINATOR TO THE CASING, THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE RECEIVING OPENING AND ITS CORRESPONDING REEPTACLE REMAINS THE SAME; INSTRUCTION MEANS PROVIDING DIFERENT INSTRUCTIONS ON AN ELEMENT SEPARATE FROM SAID DISCIMINATOR; SAID DISCRIMINATOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF OPEN WINDOWS TO EXPOSE CERTAIN OF SAID INSTRUCTIONS; AND SAID DISCRIMINATOR AND INSTRUCTION ELEMENT BEING RELATIVELY SHIFTABLE ONE TO THE OTHER TO EXPOSE DIFFERENT INSTRUCTIONS AND THEREBY CHANGE THE SCORE VALUE OF THE PLAYING PIECE INSERTED IN SAID RECEIVING OPENINGS WITHOUT CHANGING THE ROUTING MEANS LEADING FROM SAID RECEIVING OPENINGS TO SAID RECEPTACLES. 